Research Methods

Whether you are studying communication, sociology, literature, history, psychology, music, biology, or any other major, that academic field relies on standardized practices to produce scholarly knowledge. Scholarship can be in the form of highly controlled laboratory research, observation of human activities in daily life, surveys, interviews, critical analyses of public documents or visual images, and creative work like music, videography, performance, or playwriting. Each field of scholarship is based on thousands, if not millions, of research studies or creative projects conducted by students and faculty. Sociologists know what they know about societies because of research. Biologists know what they know about the biological function of organisms because of research. Artists know what they know about drawing human forms because of previous artists' work. Communication Studies scholars know what they know about how people construct meaning through interactions because of research and creative projects. 

The overall purpose of this book is to help you understand how knowledge is constructed in Communication Studies. We hope to provide an appreciation of, and critical lens for examining, research and enable you to begin constructing your own contributions to the body of scholarly knowledge.